Cottage Grove

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Lane County, the county that contains Cottage Grove.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Lane County, the county that contains Cottage Grove.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Lane County, the county that contains Cottage Grove.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Tsunamis

Tsunami records for Lane County.

1. Places where NOAA's Global Historical Tsunami Database records a tsunami's water arriving, with the greatest height it reached above sea level at the time. Only tsunamis NOAA rates probable or definite are counted. Heights from eyewitness accounts and tide gauges are mixed, and older events are less completely recorded.

NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Volcanoes within 100 miles

1. U.S. volcanoes within 100 miles, from the USGS Volcano Hazards Program. The threat category is the USGS 2018 National Volcanic Threat Assessment, which ranks volcanoes by how hazardous their past eruptions were and how many people and how much infrastructure lie near them. It is not a forecast of eruption.

USGS Volcano Hazards Program, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in Lane County.

Mapped by OR DOGAMI (7,209), NASA (101), USGS Seismogenic Mass Movements (6), USGS Conterminous (5).

Deadly landslides

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jan 18, 2012Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused the Siuslaw River near Mapleton to overflow its banks, causing major flooding to surrounding areas. The Siuslaw River crested at 28.1 feet on January 19th at 3 pm PST, 10.1 feet above flood stage.

2. Aug 24, 1996Wildfire$1.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   On August 24th lightning caused a series of forest fires, known as the Moolack Complex, in the Willamette National Forest east of Oakridge. 11,375 acres were burned with 1.7 million dollars in damage to campgrounds and timber interests. The fire smoldered for almost 2 months before it was declared out on October 16.

3. Sep 1, 1996Wildfire$1.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Moolack Fire Complex was started by lightning on August 24th and burned throughout the month of September. The fire was declared out on October 16.

4. Jan 19, 2012Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused the Mohawk River near Springfield to overflow its banks and flood low lying areas. The Mohawk River crested at 17.9 feet on January 19th at 7 pm PST, 2.9 feet above flood stage.

5. Dec 17, 2015Flood$499,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Siuslaw River flooded near Mapleton and the Mohawk River flooded near Springfield. Minor flooding of a pastureland was reported in Swisshome due to flooding of Mann Creek. A new daily rainfall record of 1.65 inches in Eugene broke the previous record of 1.35 inches last set in 1957.

6. Dec 7, 2015Flood$395,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain resulted in the Siuslaw River to exceed flood stage at Mapleton. Several small streams also flooded in the area.

7. Dec 10, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$260,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind damage from thunderstorm winds were reported in Eugene and Creswell. Numerous trees were downed on vehicles and buildings, and downed power lines resulted in widespread electricity outages.

8. Apr 7, 2019Debris Flow$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Oregon Department of Transportation had to close highway 58 due to at least 3 landslides between Lowell and Oakridge. There were other landslides reported around the area as well, along LaDuke Road, Big Fall Creek Road, Winberry Road, and Sweet Creek Road.

9. Dec 5, 1996Tornado$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A cool unstable airmass produced thunderstorms over Westrern Oregon. A small tornado touched down in North Eugene inflicting an estimated 50,000 dollars in damage to a residential neighborhood, mostly from downed trees falling on houses.

10. Nov 22, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$45,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Thunderstorms produced a downburst of wind that downed around 50 Douglas Fir trees with trunk diameters between 10 and 14 inches.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

105°F7 times, most recently Jun 28, 2021

All-time low

−4°F2 times, most recently Dec 10, 1972

Warmest night

79°FJul 23, 1927

Coldest day

11°FDec 13, 1919

Wettest day

4.80 inNov 22, 1961

Snowiest day

16.0 inJan 26, 1969

Hottest year

1992mean 54.9°F

Coldest year

1985mean 49.6°F

Wettest year

195063.09 in

Driest year

194429.02 in

Snowiest season

48.6 in1949-50

Station Cottage Grove 2E (USC00351897), 595 ft elevation, 1.5 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1916 to June 30, 2026; 90.0% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Lane County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00351897.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Tsunamis NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database.
• Volcanoes USGS Volcano Hazards Program, U.S. volcanoes and 2018 threat assessment.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.